THE CHEMISTRY OF PETROL & DIESEL

There's a lot behind the fuel we put in our cars in this graphic, we take a look at the differences between diesel, leaded petrol, and unleaded petrol.

PETROL & DIESEL THE DIFFERENCE

10-15 CARBONS

36.9
MJ
PER LITRE

5-12 CARBONS

PER LITRE

DIESEL
250 300 C

PETROL
35 200 C

33.7 MJ

Petrol and diesel are both obtained by fractional

distillation of crude oil. However, they differ in their
composition. Diesel is a fraction of crude oil that
is removed at a higher boiling point, and contains
a larger amount of energy per litre, meaning more
miles can be covered with the same volume of fuel.

HOW ENGINES WORK

1

INTAKE

AIR, FUEL INJECTED (PETROL ENGINES)

COMPRESSION

HIGHER COMPRESSION WITH DIESEL

COMBUSTION

FUEL INJECTED (DIESEL ENGINES)

EXHAUST

WASTE GASES FROM COMBUSTION

SPARK PLUG

Sorry
out of
use

UNLEADED

DIESEL

ISOOCTANE

OCTANE RATING: 0

OCTANE RATING: 100

Knocking occurs when fuel's combustion doesn't

occur in sync with the engine cycle. This causes lower
engine efficiency and engine damage. Octane ratings
gauge how well fuel avoids this problem, with higher
values indicating less knocking. Isooctane (100) and
n-heptane (0) are used as references.

LEADED & UNLEADED PETROL

Pb
TETRAETHYL LEAD

OCH3
MTBE

BENZENE

(diesel)

AIR IN
FUEL IN

(petrol only)

LEADED

n-HEPTANE

FUEL IN

(petrol engine only)

OCTANE RATINGS & KNOCKING

Compounds can be added to petrol to boost its

octane rating. Tetraethyl lead was one of these, but
is now banned in most countries as it releases toxic
lead fumes. Alternative anti-knocking agents used in
unleaded petrol include methyl tertiary-butyl ether
(MTBE), ethanol, benzene, and toluene.

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